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In October 2024, Backxwash announced that she would be releasing a new album, with a release date set for February 2025.[1] The album was to include the single "Wake Up", which she had released earlier that year, on April 17, 2024.[2]Only Dust Remains was officially announced on January 28, 2025.[3] On February 27, she released the single "9th Heaven" from the album.[4][5] Backxwash released Only Dust Remains on March 28, 2025, through her label Ugly Hag Records.[6]
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Only Dust Remains received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 from 5 critic scores.[7] Mischa Pearlman of Kerrang! called it "a morbid, bleak and brilliant post-trilogy album" and further described it as "a dark album. A very dark album," yet highlighted its global awareness, with tracks like "History of Violence" mixing personal pain with political trauma. Pearlman concluded Only Dust Remains as a "brave, powerful and uncompromising album that holds nothing back".[10]Anthony Fantano praised Backxwash's creative evolution, noting that the album features "more of those different sides of her that we caught just a tiny, teensy-weensy bit of on the last record".[11] John Amen of Beats Per Minute wrote, "Mutinta isn’t retracting her take on the world; she’s unapologetic in her condemnation of our institutions and the way they impact our sense of worth (and/or lack of it). At the same time, she’s researching new sonic directions as well as a somewhat more paradoxical take on human life". He concluded, "Dust is ultimately a 'between' project; we’ll see where it leads".[14]